The present invention concerns a separating machine for separating products of soft and harder consistency, including a drum which is drivable in rotation about its axis and the peripheral surface of which has a plurality of holes, and a pressing device which by means of a pressing element presses the product to be separated against the peripheral surface of the drum so that product components of soft consistency pass through the drum.
Separating machines of the general kind set forth are often used, in which the pressing element is in the form of an endless belt which partially extends around the drum so that the product to be separated is introduced into the gap between the drum and the endless belt.
Separating machines of the general kind set forth have proven their worth in principle. However there is a need for improvement in regard to present day uses. Thus, there is the endeavor to increase the throughput of the separating machines, for which purpose separating machines can be operated at higher power and/or at a higher operating speed of the pressing element, for example a higher speed of rotation of the pressing element or a higher speed of the endless belt used as the pressing element. A higher throughput, for example by virtue of a higher operating speed of the pressing devices, results however in more rapid wear of the endless belt, which can have the consequence that the product to be separated accumulates upstream of the drum to an increased degree, particularly when there are also larger pieces of the product to be separated. Those unwanted product accumulations result in the endless belt bulging out, which leads to irregular movement thereof and may possibly make it necessary to shut down the separating machine. That also loads the bearings of the drive, direction-changing and guide devices of the pressing belt, such bearings often being in the form of rolling members or rollers, by way of which the endless belt is guided or which support the endless belt. In addition such product accumulations can result in unwanted slippage of the belt with respect to the product to be separated and/or the drive element.
In addition, such irregular movements of the endless belt can result in deceleration thereof, which on the one hand is disadvantageous in regard to throughput through the separating machine, while on the other hand however that produces frictional heat and thus leads to an increased power consumption but also unwanted input of energy into the product to be separated which in most cases represents a foodstuffs product.
Such problems are not only limited to separating machines having a pressing belt as the pressing element, but to a certain extent can also occur for example when the pressing element is in the form of a pressing head arranged within the drum and rotating relative to the drum.